Cold-shooting `Canes ousted from NCAA Tournament

From his locker, a red-eyed Kenny Kadji called injured Miami teammate Reggie Johnson. He apologized while wiping away tears. Fellow senior Trey McKinney Jones hugged teammates one at a time and everyone else just stared into space.

Emotion was thick in the Hurricanes’ locker room. A season of cresting momentum, historic firsts and iconic moments crashed Thursday night in Washington, D.C.

Marquette crushed Miami 71-61 on a night the Hurricanes ultimately stood on the wrong side of history. Failing to reach its first regional final in program history, the Hurricanes were never closer than 10 in the final 28 minutes. The 16 first-half points were the fewest UM’s scored in two seasons as the magic began to fade.

Miami missed Johnson, sidelined for his finale by a Sunday knee injury and remained in Coral Gables. But issues ran deeper than one player.

“Tonight nobody could get hot,” sophomore Shane Larkin said. “We just couldn’t hit any shots and that’s frustrating. We went out there, played hard and tried to get to the rim. Shots just weren’t falling.”

Beaten badly in the paint, Miami (29-7) had no answer for Marquette’s bruising style not seen in the ACC.

The Golden Eagles finished with a 40-24 edge in interior points, and Miami saw the deficit grow to 22 with miserable perimeter shooting. The 8-for-27 night from behind the arc got a boost from a few makes well after the outcome was decided.

Momentum never came as Miami didn’t score consecutive baskets until Durand Scott’s first points fell through with 14:29 to play. He and Trey McKinney-Jones combined to miss their first 13 shots as Kadji and Shane Larkin supplied the only hint of offensive burst. Larkin’s 14 points led, followed by Kadji’s 11.

Larkin played 39 of the 40 minutes in spite of picking up his second foul midway through the first half. He also overcame a night of sickness in his Washington hotel room.

The last hint of life came on a 7-0 run midway through the second half. Miami cut it to 51-37 on a Gamble dunk with 8:36 left, but Rion Brown’s 3-pointer rimmed out with a chance to trim it further. Marquette (26-8) scored two straight baskets and killed any hope of a rally.

“We didn't have the juice that you need to play great basketball,” Larranaga said. “It started right from the very beginning, you could see it. It never really improved.”

The 13-point halftime deficit tied a season high, while the 16 points was the fewest since 2011.

Dipping to a 19.2 shooting percentage (5 for 26) late, nothing dropped as the Marquette defense frustrated the Miami backcourt. Larkin and Scott appeared unhappy with the movement on the offensive end as 3-point shooting was beyond off.

Making 1 for 11 attempts before halftime, Sunday’s big shooter wasn’t on his game. Brown, who made five 3s in the 63-59 win over Illinois, went 1-for8 from the perimeter.

Scott and McKinney-Jones combined to miss all 10 first-half shots as Miami went without points in seven crucial minutes.

A 4-2 UM lead became a 12-4 hole as the Eagles got the ball in the lane with several options from which to choose.

Miami simply had one fewer big body to challenge the two Marquette big men. Chris Otule and Davante Gardner created space down low and combined to score 25 points.

Miami also went nine-deep to match that size and the depth of Marquette’s nine-man rotation. Raphael Akpejiori, playing with an injured hand, and Erick Swoope took turns in the post against Otule (6 feet 11, 275 pounds) and Gardner (6-8, 290).

The Hurricanes were getting open looks with ball movement on the perimeter. Nothing was falling.

Miami was getting the open shots it had in previous wins. They just weren’t falling.

So that’s how it ended.

Now the questions begin.

Will Larkin return for his junior season? How will Miami replace five of its six leading scorers who graduate?

But for an evening and a few days to come, the burn of what could’ve been will linger.

WASHINGTON — We're about 90 minutes away from tip off here in the Verizon Center in the heart of our nation's capitol. Fans are milling about outside the arena and work crews are making the finishing touches inside.

It's a battle that goes all the way back to their college days at the University of Miami — defensive end Olivier Vernon vs. left tackle Jason Fox. Now that matchup is taking place at the NFL level with the Dolphins, and there's much more at stake.